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Hello. My sister bought a 2003 Civic EX about 2 years ago. Stock with 18 inch rims on it. The car has roughly a 2 finger gap all around and sits perfect like it's lowered. The shocks are starting to go out so we need to replace them. Im looking to replace the entire shock and spring assembly as a whole but if it has been lowered I don't want her car to be a 4x4 on 18's looking stupid with new shocks/springs. I look into the wheel well and it looks stock no colored springs or anything aftermarket (Or at least I think). The ride isn't bouncy or awful like cut springs. So basically how do I tell if it's been lowered? Im going to measure the length from the fender/quater panel to the ground and will post them here to compare to someone who knows their car isn't lowered. Thank you.

 
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Post up a side profile pic of the car and/or semi-close up of the week gap. We might be able to tell you

 
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A picture would be very helpful. Even better, take a wheel off and take a picture of the strut.

Also tell us what size of tire is on those wheels. If the profile is anything thinner than "40", then it can make the car appear to sit lower. The right tire/wheel combo should let us know if the standard fender-to-ground height measurements will apply to your car correctly.

 
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Thanks for the responses. I will upload some pictures tonight as I am at work right now, along with the measurements. The rim is a 18x7 with a 215/35/R18 tire.

 
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35 tires are very low profile. That'll take almost 1/2" off the height appearance. 18" rims are typically paired with 40's on our cars.
Still could be other factors though. Won't know until we see pics

 
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I would think that having low profile tires would actually contribute to more wheel gap because the suspension lifts the body away from the center of the wheel the same amount but there is less tire to fill the area.

 
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^ I would think so also. Technically by increasing your wheel diameter and lowering your tire profile the overall diameter and rolling circumference should be the same, but its hard to match exactly.

With the current tire size compared to OEM the diameter is 2.2% less. So the wheel gap should look larger because it is larger.

I used 185/65/15 as stock tire size

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/tir...5r15-215-35r18

If I'm understanding it correctly.

 
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oh yeah, that's definitely true, oops lol

 
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If you measure to determine if the car is lowered, don't measure from the ground to the fender or quarter panel. That is determined by your wheel and tire size as well as lowering the car.

To get a proper measurement, you measure from the center of the wheel (center caps if the wheels have them, otherwise from the holes for the axle nut/hub) to the top of the fender and quarter panel. Different wheel and tire sizes will not effect this measurement.

 
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Can't believe I didn't think of that *facepalm
You have clearly succeeded at making me feel like an idiot.
I'm going back to school tomorrow to return my engineering degree.

 
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Here's the pictures guys. I will measure tomorrow.

 
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this car is on stock suspension with 18s.

 
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I would say it is lowered. That pic lowlife posted is a monster truck.

If the springs are black then it could be an Eibach pro kit or someone cut the stock springs. Your going to have to remove the wheel and look for writing on the spring.

 
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Yeah her car doesn't look anywhere that high in that picture. Dang I was hoping it wasn't lowered. The ride is too good to be cut springs so Im hoping some lowering springs are in there but I will look for the writing when I remove the wheel today.

 
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take pics of the springs, might someone reckon them. lowered.

 
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Even cut springs wouldn't a bad ride necessarily. Depends on how cut up they actually are, lol

 
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Looks lowered about an inch.

 
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Hey guys. I finally got the time to look at her springs. Found out they are Eibach pro kit lowering springs which Im happy about. Also found out she has a SPC camber kit.





Now all I have to replace are the shocks. I was going to go with Monroe shocks but since she has lowering springs I want to get her shocks that are made for lowered cars. I've never paired lowering springs and shocks since I have coilovers on my Prelude. I've heard Tokio blues are good for small drops, but I don't want something too expensive since she doesn't race or track her car.

 
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Well at least the previous owner (mostly) did it the right way with name brand products. Good springs and top-of-the-line camber kit in the eyes of many.

There are plenty of shock manufacturers that would work if you don't plan on lowering it any further, but we recommend the Tokico Blues because they are very dependable and great for dropped cars.

 
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^ Blues would be a great option with that little of a drop.

Might even be able to get away with a KYB OE replacement since its such a small drop. I would go with blues just to be sure.

 
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Thanks guys. Im going to go with Tokio blues then. While I had her rim off I decided to inspect everything and her sway bar endlinks look shot along with the bushings in the camber kit. Im going to get new sway bar endlinks, sway bar bushings, bushings for the camber kit, and new bushings for the tophats since Im reusing them.

 
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Good for you for getting blues. Doing it the right way.

 
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Yeah, the price difference isn't huge so I rather do it right and have her on the road for years to come then cheap out and have blown shocks in a year or two.
Should I replace the top hat bushings while Im already replacing the shocks? Also the bushing in the camber kit that mounts onto the body is beyond gone. It's torn up and I can't find them online to replace. Am I going to have to buy new camber kits for the rear or does SPC sell the bushings? I couldn't find them. Here's a picture of the part Im talking about in red, you can also see part of the bushings sticking out in blue.

 
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I'd call SPC and see if they do.

 
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I know Ingalls sells bushings and they might be the same size as SPC.
Those bushings are very tough to replace though. Hard to get those in and out, lol.

If all else fails, a new camber kit isn't very expensive. Megan Racing makes a good one for about $90. Used SPC and Ingalls are within that range too, but harder to find. If you're having trouble finding kits, search for RSX kits too, becasue they will also fit.

 
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Good luck getting those Blues. I wanted that suspension on my car but everywhere I checked I couldn't get the rear shocks. Tokico is going through MASSIVE restructuring-at least for North America and nothing is being produced and nothing is shipping out. Last time I checked, a large portion of their website was also down for around 2 weeks. Not sure if it still is. I ended up going Blues for the front and Koni str for the rear. I'm quite happy with the ride besides for some popping but that's a totally different issue. Even if sellers on ebay list they have the parts, they often don't have them in stock. I was able to find one set of rears after I had already bought the Konis but the price was right for my setup (got some great deals since the company messed up because they thought they had the rears but they didn't.)